The New Era
by CrystalShadowStar
Summary: Now that Tamlin is dead, who is the new High Lord? The Inner Circle races to find them, and end the rivalry between Spring and Night. Meanwhile, they have to keep the peace between the other courts over Tamlin's death. Also, they have a new dog, who proves to be much more than a normal dog. Can they keep the peace, or will there be another war? (Sequel to All My Fault)
1. The Dog

Azriel POV

I crouched down, and wreathed myself in shadows, hiding behind the blooming roses. The scent made me gag, and I pressed against the wall.

Two people walked past me, and I listened in on their conversation.

" -children, so we can't be sure who the next High Lord is. Who's to say it's not someone worse than Tamlin?" Asked one of the people, her voice sweet and cheery.

"What about his old emissary. Wasn't he named heir at some point?" The other responded, his voice gruff.

"Oh yes, but Tamlin canceled that order after he left with Feyre." The girl responded. They moved further away, still chatting, but I couldn't hear anymore.

I sent some shadows out, and awaited their response. When they returned, there was only a bit of speaking, and then it was cut off, like something got in their way.

I shifted my head, trying to see where they'd gone, and to my surprise, they had disappeared. I heard a branch rustle, and I looked up into the roses. The female had climbed up, and she was staring at me. Her mouth opened as she saw my wings, and before she could say anything, I winnowed.

I perched on the roof, and peered over the edge. She was still in the bush, and the male was now walking over there. He looked up and I ducked my head back just in time. I decided not to take anymore risks, and winnowed back to Velaris.

I landed just outside the townhouse, and walked up the front steps to the door. I opened it, and heard voices. On instinct, I listened in with shadows, and heard Feyre, Rhys and Mor arguing. Judging by the sounds of it, Mor and Feyre were ganging up on Rhys.

"Why can't we get one?" Mor asked.

"Because I said no. That's why." Rhys replied.

"Bullshit answer." Feyre exclaimed. "I want one. They're so cute, and fluffy and sweet."

"Would you really deny your mate something Rhys?" Mor said, sounding very sly.

"Yes, I would." He said. "Feyre, no. Don't start making that face, it doesn't work anymore."

"But I want a puppy." Feyre wined. "Pleeease."

I snorted. Of course they were arguing about a dog. Typical. I snuck into the living room through the kitchen, and waited for someone to say something.

"It's two against one, Rhys." Mor said.

"Actually," I cut in, "It's three against one." They jumped, and turned to see me leaning against the doorframe.

Rhys recovered first. "You're really siding with them on this?"

"Of course. One, I want a dog, they're adorable. Two, I'd prefer to side with my High Lady and Mor because I'm more scared of them than I am of you." Mor and Feyre smirked. "And three, I always get outvoted when I say we should get a dog. It's been three centuries, and you and Cassian still won't let me get one, and you always make sure Mor and Amren aren't in the room when I ask."

Mor looked at Rhys, whose eyes widened. "Rhys, did you stop Az from getting a puppy?" He scoffed.

"Of course not." He said. Feyre advanced on him, and he took off through the house, with Mor and Feyre chasing him.

I chuckled, and left the room in the search for something to eat.

* * *

 **Rhys POV**

Feyre and Mor had chased me through the house, so I locked myself in a cupboard. I came out when I heard them go away, and moved to the stairs, only to be tackled by Feyre. She pushed me over, and I fell down the stairs. At the last second, I grabbed Feyre's ankle and sent her tumbling down with me.

She shrieked as we bounced from one step to another, finally landing on the floor. She cursed, and I groaned. Mor laughed and came to help us up. Azriel was leaning against the war, chewing on an apple. He raised his brows.

I stood, and said, "Just get the dog." Mor and Feyre squealed and ran out of the door, closely followed by Azriel. I sighed to myself. This was going to be hard work.

* * *

That night, as we were all eating dinner, and laughing at our new dog. Feyre and Mor couldn't decide on a name, and they kept trying to get Azriel to be the deciding vote, but he was adamant that the dog should be called shadow.

The dog had a sleek, grey coat, and looked very fast. Feyre, Mor and Az had come home so happy with the puppy, and were all trying to take it from the others to so they could hold it.

I suddenly remembered where Az had been today. "Did you find out who the new High Lord of Spring is?" I asked.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at Azriel.

"No, I didn't. Judging by the conversations I overheard, no one knows. I didn't get to stick around to find out more." He replied.

Mor seemed curious. "What do you mean, you didn't get to stick around?"

Azriel suddenly seemed very uncomfortable. He started shifting in his seat, and picking at his food.

"I, well, I, I was kind of seen." He finally said.

I laughed. "How can you only be kind of seen? Did they only see half of you?" Az glared at me.

Feyre laughed too, and then Mor joined in.

Azriel changed the subject. "What are we naming the dog?"

The three of them got into a heated argument, while I watched the puppy sleeping on the couch. Her grey fur was so light, it was almost silver. It looked like the last light of the day, so much alike the light of dusk.

"Dusk." I said.

"What?" Feyre asked, confused.

"Dusk." I repeated. "Her name is Dusk." They all looked at me and nodded.

Azriel stared at me. "You didn't want a dog and now you're naming it. Congratulations, you've practically just screamed at us that you like having a dog."

I sighed inwardly. I suppose I _had_ just named her.

 **Hey guys! This is the sequel to** _ **All My Fault.**_ **Just so you know, this one won't be completely focused on Azriel, but it will carry on from the problems of the last story. Anyway, I know it's a slow start, but, Inner Circle with a dog. Cmon, that's so cute.**

 **-CrystalShadowStar**


	2. The Merge

**Azriel POV**

Word still hadn't come through from any of my sources, and the new High Lord of Spring remained unfound. We could only keep this a secret for so long, but we were working every hour to make sure we were prepared for the hell the other courts might unleash when they find out.

"Do you think we should seal the Spring courts borders until the High Lord is found?" Cassian asked Rhys.

"It'd just make the other courts more curious." Rhys replied.

"It's common knowledge at this point that we killed Tamlin," I continued, "and the High Lords are demanding to know who the heir is. If we don't act fast, we might have to prepare for another war, of a different kind."

Silence fell as we considered this. There would be no physical fighting, the loss of forces from the war against Hybern could see to that. However, the fragile new relationships between the courts could shatter, leaving us with a once again divided island.

"Well, what the hell can we do to find them. They won't be found if they don't want to be found, and who's to say that they even know what this rush of power is?" Cassian said.

I remained silent, letting Rhys decide on how to answer this.

"We don't, but automatically, you feel a pull towards your court. So they probably know, but they could be ignoring it." Rhys replied.

"So essentially," I cut in, "all we've done in this meeting is come up with a whole bunch of theories that lead nowhere. So, I say we leave it there, because I have no more information, and without information, we'll be running around in circles."

Rhys and Cassian murmured their agreement, and I stood up. I had something to sort out.

* * *

The shadows bent and stretched at my will, something basic and simple to do. It required almost no concentration, it was one of the first things I learned to do. I imagined a wall blocking off all light, and the darkest shadow I could create suddenly wrapped itself around me, blocking me from the light, and the light from me.

For the past few months, ever since that day in the spring court, and had been working to try and understand what had happened when I killed Tamlin. All I could really remember was my power grabbing onto Tamlin like a leech, and that my shadows had been entwined with blue light.

After a bit of thinking, I understood that my siphons had mixed with the shadows, something I had never seen happen before.

I'd been trying to recreate it, but to no avail. I do remember feeling a lot of pain, and I've tried injuring myself to help it happen, but it didn't work. So, I've just been doing basic tricks with the shadows, hoping that I might unlock the key to what happened.

I lay back, spreading my wings out wide, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my face and wings. I shut my eyes, and rested my hands behind my head. The sun was slowly warming the earth, since it was only just past mid morning, because Cassian had insisted we meet at the crack of dawn.

I was still really tired, because I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, or the night before, staying up late to see if I could manipulate the shadows to wrap around the siphon power. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

 _The cold wind bit at my wings, and my breath turned to steam before my eyes. Footsteps sounded behind me, and I whipped around, snow slamming into my face, blinding me. I hastily wiped it from my eyes, and blinked when I saw who stood in front of me._

 _His face leered, golden hair back to full glory, and eyes full of malice. Tamlin stared at me, his mouth twisting into a snarl. An overwhelming emotion rose, and I lashed out at him with my power, striking him with shadows and siphon. They merged, and he jerked and bucked, until at last he grew still. Once that was done, I fought to regain control, and willed the power to disappear. I succeeded, and all that was left was a pile of ash._

I snapped awake, not allowing myself an extra moment to be trapped in the dream. I thrust my hand out, willing shadows and siphons to merge. I failed, and leaned back in disappointment.

 _How did I do it the dream?_ I thought to myself. I remember feeling an emotion, one that triggered the merge of siphons and shadows, but I still didn't know what.

 _I willed it, demanded it. I didn't hope for it, didn't ask for it, I ordered it and took it._ I realised. I tried again, this time demanding that it worked. When it still didn't, I sighed, irritated.

I narrowed my eyes at the nearest shadow, and let some of my irritation brush against where the magic was kept in my soul, and again attempted to merge the shadows and siphons. This time, they merged for a brief second, before dissipating. I focused harder, willing it to appear, and the shadows became tinged with blue, before flickering out.

I turned away, only to realise that they had flickered back, stronger than before. Triumph rose in me, and the merged powers flared the strongest they had been before, and steadied.

My gaze fell on a small bush near me, and I directed the power over there. After a few seconds, they disappeared, leaving only a pile of ash.

A thrill went through me as I realised how powerful this was. I stood from where I had been crouched on the ground, and shook out my wings. I glanced at the sun, and realised it was going down.

I shot off the ground, and flew back to Velaris, satisfied I had solved the mystery of that power.

 _ **Thanks for reading! I know this was a shorter chapter than usual, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**_

 _ **-CrystalShadowStar**_


End file.
